Merthur Glompfest

Merthur Glompfest is a gifting fest designed to allow fandom creators (e.g. fanartists and fic writers) the chance to give back to all the readers, lurkers, commenters and other Merthur fans who make this fandom so much fun. For more information on how the fest works and how to get involved, check out our FAQ or head over to the website: http://merthurglompfest.carrd.co/

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Merthur Glompfest 2026 Masterlist!

Thank you once again to everyone who participated in this year’s Merthur Glompfest! We appreciate all the hard work you’ve put into the fest to help make it such a success, and we hope that our Glompee’s are all enjoying their gifts! Now that the fest has come to an end, please check out the masterlist HERE for your viewing pleasure or by checking out the #merthur glompfest 2026 tag or peruse through our AO3 collection, featuring all of our fantastic entries. We look forward to seeing you all again next year! Cheers! —Your Glompfest Mods, schweet_heart & fifty_fifty ♥

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Title: Of Cabbages and Kings By: Jockles Gift for: veronyxk84 Rating: Teen and Up Word Count/Medium: 23,631 words Warning(s): None

Creator Notes (Optional): 

I was seized by demons when I started writing this fic and so while I don't think I've precisely fulfilled your prompts, I hope this still falls firmly within the spirit of what you were looking for.

Summary: 

As darkness falls on Arthur Pendragon, as he comes to the end of his life on the shores of the lake at Avalon, he is unexpectedly sent back to the day that he didn't know would change his life.

AO3 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/84020086

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Title: close to you By: @schweetheart Gift for: Crayon Rating: Teen and Up Word Count/Medium: 6525 words Warning(s): None Creator Notes (Optional):

Dear Crayon,

When I originally agreed to pinch-hit for this prompt, I thought I'd be writing something fun but short—something that I could complete in time for the deadline. Instead, it just kept getting longer and longer, consumed my every waking thought for four days straight, and went in a totally different direction than I was expecting. I hope you enjoy the finished product! 💝

With thanks to diaryofatrekker once again for the stellar beta work, and for encouraging me to keep making things better. You're a star ⭐️

Summary:

In the months since Arthur became king, he has repealed the ban on magic, appointed Merlin as his Court Sorcerer, and made peace with the Druids. The Golden Age of Albion must surely be at hand—if only he and Merlin could stop arguing long enough to enjoy it.

Or: Merlin and Arthur fall foul of a proximity curse. What could possibly go wrong?

AO3 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/84055986

[merthurglompfest]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Title: High King of Albion By: @schweet-arts / @schweetheart Gift for: IAmSoLostRightNow Rating: General Word Count/Medium: Digital painting Warning(s): None Creator Notes (Optional):

Dear IAmSoLostRightNow,

Thank you so much for signing up for Merthur Glompfest this year! I had a great time creating something for your prompt; I really love the way Merlin looks at Arthur in those moments, so I hope you think I did his expression justice in this imaginary (happy!) future I gave the two of them 💝

Summary:

"You're the last person I'd have expected to get emotional about this," Arthur said, catching Merlin's gaze in the mirror with a knowing smile. "It's just a crown, Merlin."

"I know it is, you prat," Merlin said, reaching out to make some final adjustments. "But it's the High King's crown now, isn't it?" He sniffed. "And it's crooked."

AO3 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/83873021

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Title: Hold You Together (I’ll Hold You Forever) By: Phoenix Reborn Gift for: perniky Rating: M Word Count/Medium: 4,200 words

Warning(s): Blood, major character injury, angst

Creator Notes (Optional): I had so many ideas for this delightful prompt! I hope that I get the chance to touch on them again sometime in the future. Thank you so much for this opportunity!

Summary: Arthur can’t stop staring — at the blood, the heartbeat, the pulse… at the life that slips and sputters and flows through veins, torn skin, trembling fingers… only to land like broken dreams on a floor of red.

He did this.

Now he must undo it.

AO3 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/83773186

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Title: Epiphany By: fallenfairytale Gift for: childofmagicandmagicschild Rating: Explicit Word Count/Medium: 143,506 words Warning(s): Major Character Death, Temporary Character Death, Explicit Sexual Scenes, Themes of Grief and Depression

Creator Notes (Optional): All I can say here is, it was one hell of a ride creating this story. So many sleepless nights spend on it and I just hope you all will enjoy it was much as I did writing it.

Summary: A single moment of magic changes everything. When Merlin’s secret is revealed under the worst possible circumstances, Arthur is left to navigate truth, trust, and a grief that cuts deeper than he expected...

AO3 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/83695291/chapters/220567911

[merthurglompfest]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Title: que tenemos que hablar de muchas cosas By: EndlessNatterings  Gift for: Ilien Rating: Gen Word Count: 1,663 Warning(s): No warnings apply

Creator Notes (Optional): Shorter than I had intended, but life got a bit hectic. Title from Elegia by Miguel Hernandez

Summary: 

Arthur's new life is good. It's going great even! He's even managed to reunite with some old friends. Which only makes the only actual problem he has worse.Because Merlin is still not back.

AO3 Link: 

https://archiveofourown.org/works/82839321

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Title: (Scattered) Reliquiae By: Diana Prallon Gift for: Iamsolostrightnow Rating: Teen and Up Word Count/Medium: 7271 words Warning(s): Setting: The Diamond of the Day, parts I & II. That means: Canon typical violence, Canon Magic Reveal; Hurt/Comfort; Heavy Angst; Emotional Trauma; Dissociation; Canon Compliant/Minor Canon Deviation; Ambiguous/Open Ending; Fix-it (of sorts); Canon Show Dialogue; period-typical attitudes; Mutual unrequited (these idiots); MCD 

Creator Notes (Optional): So, I had the pleasure to work through a beautiful prompt: “If it stays, it’s love. If it ends, it’s a love story. And if it never begins, it’s poetry.” In truth, I went through several different pitches in my head before panicking and landing on this one; the prompt basically screams Finale, soooo I just accepted it and went along. And, yeah, all the pain you felt through the finale is here, just made a bit worse, you’re welcome. Sorry, not sorry. Any emotional damages claims should be directed straight to BBC, please and thank you.

Verses in the beginning/end of each section have been hand-translated by me; any mistakes are my own and any weirdness probably comes from, well, poetry. Poetry is weird (but thankfully as we know Arthur loves poetry, as he told Leon).

I made abundant usage of canon-dialogue; you may want to set a bingo with “episodes with absurdly merthur dialogue” and see if you complete a line. May even help with the crying (didn’t for me, but, hey, hope springs eternal, you people may be luckier or more resilient).

Before I finish this (which is far too long), I should thank Roe for beta-ing this for me and putting up with my weirdness and my random linguistics commentary. Any remaining errors are my own because I definitely won't stop fidgeting around a text until it's published. Oops.

Finally, I must thank the mods for this fest for their work and their dedication and their patience with my emails after I’ve been out of the loop for so long. We’re all lucky to have you around. Thank you.

Summary: One word, six letters, your own name. That was all that it took, each time.

AO3 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/83075871/

[merthurglompfest]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Title: to be loved, and found magical By: @schweetheart Gift for: haveyoueverconsideredpiracy Rating: Teen and Up Word Count/Medium: 2222 words Warning(s): Mild violence/gore Creator Notes (Optional):

Dear haveyoueverconsideredpiracy,

Thank you so much for taking part in Merthur Glompfest this year! I did my best to include as many of your likes as possible, so I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I did writing it 💝

With many thanks to diaryofatrekker for the expert beta help.

Summary:

Shortly after Arthur is crowned and Merlin reveals his magic, he and Merlin take on a magical beast together.

In retrospect, they probably could have planned things better.

AO3 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/83607026

[merthurglompfest]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Title: in sickness and in health By: diaryofatrekker Gift for: ilien Rating: Explicit Word Count: 6,225 words Warning(s): NA Creator Notes: thanks to K8lin for the beta! Summary: Merlin’s definitely at death’s door and won’t look after himself, so Arthur needs to intervene, no matter how much Merlin protests he’s not actually that sick. AO3 Link (need to be logged in to view): https://archiveofourown.org/works/82660486

[merthurglompfest]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Title: Master of the Serpent  By: theletters Gift for: IamSoLostRightNow Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Word Count: 8,886 words Warning(s): No Archive Warnings Apply Creator Notes: For IamSoLostRightNow. Thank you for such a fun prompt, I hope this lives up to your expectations! And a huge thanks to ashesandart (ashesforart on Tumblr) and Diana_Prallon for beta reading at such short notice. This story wouldn't exist without your help. Summary: After Merlin is taken by Morgana's mercenaries, Arthur miraculously finds him stumbling around in the forest. Merlin appears to be fine – except he's acting a little strange. Could it be... love? I.e., A Servant of Two Masters, if Arthur found out Merlin had been enchanted. AO3 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/82927006

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Title: Marriage & Mayhem By: Can_I_hear_a_wahoo2 Gift for: haveyoueverconsideredpiracy Rating: Teen and up audience Word Count: 3,452 words Warning(s): No archive warnings Creator Notes: Heyyyy, so this is my first time being the Glomper and not the Glompee so it's been quite fun writing someone else's idea.

I may have gotten a bit carried away with the original idea but it was just so entertaining to write! Happy Glompfest everyone! Summary: Merlin had only told Gwaine about the true nature of his and Arthur’s spontaneous trip. Then thinking that someone with some common sense should also know, Arthur confided in Leon who couldn’t say he was surprised in the slightest that they had gotten married. Not long later, Leon was fairly sure Gwaine had told all of the knights and castle staff. It was a wonder in itself that word hadn’t yet got back to Uther. So yes, the thought of an ignorant Uther playing matchmaker was quite a big problem. OR Merlin and Arthur end up getting married and actually don't mind being each others forever, but Uther doesn't know this and puts a spanner in the works. AO3 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/82216386

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Title: loose lips By: diaryofatrekker Gift for: hamsterfish Rating: Explicit Word Count: 8,320 words Warning(s): NA Creator Notes (Optional): thanks to millwhy for the beta! Summary: Arthur and the knights struggle to keep a secret. AO3 Link (need to be logged in to view): https://archiveofourown.org/works/82783106

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Title: love me, heal me, turn around and see me By: amACEinglyordinary Gift for: a13merlinfan Rating: Mature Word Count: 5,882 words Warning(s): Graphic Depictions Of Violence Summary: Camlann comes, and goes. But instead of dying, Arthur lives. More than losing Arthur's trust, Merlin faces his fear of losing Arthur permanently when the King is kidnapped and in need of rescue. AO3 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/82466726

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Title: A Coin With Two Faces By: TheDrow Gift for: hamsterfish Rating: Explicit Word Count: 16,247 words Warning(s): Suicide, Graphic Depictions of Violence, Major Character Death Creator Notes: First things first, please heed the warnings on suicide, suicide attempts, aftermath, etc. This is a fairly strong theme throughout this story, and if this is triggering for you, please take care of yourself. <3

Second, I picked up this prompt for hamsterfish because I read it and at first glance thought it could be interesting to dive into. As some of you know, I truly love to create stories that are rooted in some very intense and sometimes dark themes and flushing them out in a way that I hope makes those themes still somewhat beautiful. So when I read the prompt, my first thought was to be horrified, and then I went… There's a truly powerful story here… and then I set to writing a quick outline that found a mind of its own and became a 5k word grammarless, colourless rough draft. Summary: Arthur wakes to find a black serpent coiled on his bed, which is frightening enough. But then Merlin bursts into his chambers and magics the creature out of existence. Magic is outlawed in Camelot, and the reveal of Merlin's magic leaves Arthur with no choice but to sentence his loyal and once-trusted friend to death. Which goes somehow worse than what one might expect for it to go. And then Arthur wakes up; and there's a black serpent coiled on his bed. And then Merlin is bursting through the doors...  

AO3 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/82281896

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Title: Karma Pulled Us to Our Feet Now By: thesongistheriver Gift for: veronyxk84 Rating: Teen and Up Word Count: 8075 words Warning(s): none apply Summary: When Morgana has a work trip over Mordred's half-term, Arthur gets to play full-time parent instead of part-time uncle. He's definitely not developing a crush on the father of one of Mordred's classmates they run into at the park. .. .. Merlin enjoys the extra time with his babysitting charges over half-term, so he supposes he can tolerate the arrogant twit whose son invited Tristan to play footie. If only he weren't so gorgeous. .. .. In which everyone makes assumptions, the kids ship it, and two very smart men are very stupid about each other. AO3 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/81795476

[merthurglompfest]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Title: Lady Sebile By: Zorbo_Jorks Gift for: Alehalebane Rating: Teen and Up Word Count/Medium: 5k words Warning(s): No Archive Warnings Apply Creator Notes (Optional):

Summary: Arthur is once again the target of conniving prince-killers, so Merlin must go in disguise as a woman of the court to stop them before it is carried out (or reaches Uther). 'Lady Sebile' is an awkward excuse for a courtier, and Arthur looks at 'her' with the oddest and most misplaced interest in his eye: him, and the rest of the men-at-court. Oh, how is Merlin to get through it?

AO3 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/80860616